Course outline

This subject addresses all kinds of technical procedure related to xilography and high-relief engraving. It covers historical aspects, leading artists, support characteristics, plate preparation, the drawing techniques most suited to the medium and stamping procedures.

At an institution of the nature of Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre-Real Casa de la Moneda (FNMT-RCM), the figure of the burin engraver still exists. However, although this technique is one of the most commonly used throughout the history of plastic expression, it is, on account of its great complexity, one of the most forgotten within the world of engraving. For this reason, FNMT-RCM created its School of Engraving to become the only centre in Spain where the technique may be learnt. It is generally understood that a graduate in Fine Arts has studied all subjects except those taught at this school: burin engraving and coin engraving.

This subject covers all kinds of technical procedures related to lithography, including aspects such as history of the medium, preparation of the stone, materials of specific use, drawing techniques applied to lithographic work, chemical processes, the characteristics of printing paper and the various stamping techniques.

Chalcography and non-toxic graphic printing processes

Here the student will have the opportunity to improve and broaden his knowledge of engraving procedures whilst learning of alternatives to traditional engraving techniques so that he may consider the various possibilities and choose the ones that are least harmful to himself and his environment.

Intaglio engraving on coins

The fully-comprehensive subject matter will enable the student to acquire the skills necessary for the execution of a metal coin. At the same time, he will learn to prepare, use and develop both the tools required and the various disciplines involved in the process. He will develop all his skills, using a whole range of versatile, useful resources with which to approach any numismatic project.

Medal

On a progressive basis over the course of two four-month periods, the student will receive training in three-dimensional artistic practice related to medals, enabling him to assume a professional commitment to contemporary reality. Through a range of practical modelling projects addressing the figure, architecture, movement and other concepts, he will work with a number of technical and expressive resources in a modern environment where the medal is seen as a form of free, unlimited artistic expression.

By studying its evolution and observing formal values and their interaction and influences vis-à-vis other forms of expression, it will be seen how the medal is configured nowadays.

Drawing and numismatic language

This subject aims to develop the concepts of design translated to numismatic language. As far as drawing is concerned, the target is the acquisition of the skills necessary to compose a coin design, using a combination of typologies and legends within a circular format. Here, the student will achieve a balance between all the elements whilst gaining an insight into the essential concepts of numismatic language. In addition, he will learn to be ever-mindful of the fact that a coin is a product with two sides (obverse and reverse) closely interlinked with each other. With this in mind, the student must convey to the viewer a message showing perfect distribution whilst offsetting the reliefs of all the elements, both images and legends, on the two sides of the coin.

Theory of the image and visual narration

Throughout the course, a selection of texts and audiovisual viewing sessions will be used as a basis for the analysis of concepts such as the act of seeing, the act of looking, the contemporary perception of the image, the viewpoint of contemporary artists, the space of the discourses from which we see... . The interpretation of new current visual narrations and their construction in the representational field of contemporary creation.

History of Art: value documents and numismatics

This subject will cover all the basic aspects necessary to familiarise the student with the various forms of representation, techniques and iconography used through the centuries in the design of value documents (banknotes, postage stamps, share certificates and also coins) in terms of the historical and geopolitical context in which they were produced. The subject also covers conceptual and, above all, aesthetic immersion into the area of design and execution of a value document.

Spatial representation

One of the main concerns of artists has been the three-dimensional representation of space in the two dimensions of our plastic supports; to recreate the milieu as it is perceived, reflecting apparent changes of aspect, size, definition and form in accordance with the proximity or remoteness of the subject. Hence this part of the course covers an analysis of the subject’s position, the viewpoint, the vanishing points and lines in space.

With the use of digital techniques to create synthetic images, knowledge and mastery of spatial representation have acquired greater significance in that it enables us, for instance, in the areas of photography and film, to create spaces, architecture and landscapes which would otherwise prove impossible to achieve.

The aim of this subject is to provide the student with the technical knowledge necessary to efficiently design banknotes, identity cards and passports for industrial production. With a duration of four months, the subject is comprised of a theoretical part, consisting in an introduction to basic commercial graphic production principles and concepts inherent in high-security printing; and a practical part, subject to assessment, consisting in a start-to-finish banknote design project.

The designer is currently required to master a number of IT skills as a basic part of his work.

As far as the software used by a designer, a photographer or any other graphics professional is concerned, Adobe Photoshop is the most comprehensive tool available for image-processing and, in particular, the editing of photographic images.

Although it is true that there are free and open-source graphic design software programmes such as GIMP for the editing of this type of image, they lack the possibilities afforded by Photoshop for the creation of photomontages or 3D effects. Indeed, Photoshop provides access to a wide range of filters and tools enabling us to obtain anything from a vector image of varying complexity to a realistic image of a world which initially exists solely in its creator’s imagination.

Included for the first time in the fifth edition of the Master course, this subject seeks to prepare the student for the task of showing his work and ideas to others. The first part of the course provides a review of the various printing and binding techniques, folding and imposition systems, together with the materials most suited to each purpose. Later, the course addresses aspects surrounding the creation of portfolios and the presentation of projects in any foreseeable format: from traditional physical supports to audiovisual and online presentations.

The end-of-course project constitutes the practical application and theoretical development of all the knowledge acquired by the student whilst training for his specialism. Comprised of 20 ECTS character credits in Compulsory Training, the subject is of particular relevance in the academic tradition of Fine Arts.